Motivation and Emotion (6-8%)
Motivation – feelings or ideas that cause to act toward a goal.
THEORIES OF MOTIVATION
Drive Reduction Theory- behavior motivated by biological needs. Need= food, water. Drive= hunger, thirst. Drive reducing behavior = eating,
drinking. (Ex. Addict injects drug)
Homeostasis – our bodies seek a balanced internal state
Primary drives – biological needs like food
Secondary drives – learned drives like $
Arousal Theory- suggests humans are motivated to seek the optimum level of arousal.
Yerkes-Dodson Law- we perform better at easy tasks with a high level of arousal, we may perform worse on difficult tasks with a
high level of arousal. (similar to social facilitation)
Incentive Theory- behavior is not pushed by a need; it is pulled by a desire.
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs- Pyramid showing which needs must be met to go to the next level. Physiological needs (ex. food) at bottom,
followed by safety needs, belongingness, esteem and self-actualization (reaching one’s full potential) at top. The other needs must be met before
one can self-actualize.
BIOLOGICAL BASIS OF HUNGER (NATURE)
Washburn balloon experiment – Washburn swallowed a balloon and determined that stomach contractions accompany our feelings
of hunger
The hypothalamus makes us feel hungry when we need to eat
Lateral hypothalamus – when electrically stimulated, the lateral hypothalamus causes an animal to begin to eat.
Destruction of this area would cause an animal to starve (because hunger disappears)
Ventromedial hypothalamus – when electrically stimulated, the ventromedial hypothalamus causes the animal to stop
eating. Destruction of this area would cause an animal to eat continuously and become overweight.
(EX. Fat Rat had Ventromedial removes- mnemonic is L comes before V. we eat then stop eating)
When are we hungry? Low glucose, high insulin
Set Point- theory says that the hypothalamus wants to maintain certain body weight.
Metabolic Rate – how our body uses energy. When we are below our optimum body weight, our metabolic rate drops.
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Hunger Hormones
o
I’m Hungry = Orexin and Grehlin
o
I’m Not Hungry = Leptin and PYY
ENVIRONMENTAL BASIS OF HUNGER (NURTURE)
Externals- external food cues. (Ex. glucose level decreases with sight, smell of a food)
Garcia effect- once nauseous on particular food then always nauseous- taste aversions
Culture- people learn to like certain foods.
EATING DISORDERS
Bulimia – Binge eating followed by purging (vomiting, exercising, laxatives)
Anorexia Nervosa – Starve body to below 85% normal body weight
Obesity – severely overweight (could be due to unhealthy eating habits or predisposition)
SEXUAL MOTIVATION
Sexual Response Cycle (Masters and Johnson) - initial excitement, plateau, orgasm, resolution
Sexual Motivation is very much driven by psychological factors. – Sexual desire prevails even when capacity to have sex is absent.
Sexual Orientation- Evidence suggests that there is a genetic link. (EX- if one identical twin is gay the other is more likely. They also
have similar brain structures
SOCIAL MOTIVATION
Achievement Motivation- varies among individuals – we have a desire to master complex tasks and reach personal goals. Most high
achievers prefer moderate tasks that they can be successful on.
Extrinsic motivation- people motivated by $ and
Intrinsic motivation- motivated by esteem needs, satisfaction
Management Theory Theory X management style- people are motivated by external rewards and punishment. This style works for a short
period of time.
Theory Y management style- people are motivated by job satisfaction, high morale. This management style is more
effective.
Conflicting MotivesApproach-Approach- when one has two choices and both have positive outcomes (EX. Should I go to Daytona or Myrtle
Beach for spring break.)
Avoidance – Avoidance – must choose between unattractive outcomes. (Ex. Mom asks you to wash the dishes or clean the
\bathroom)
Approach- Avoidance- when one has one choice that has both desirable and undesirable outcomes. (EX. I like Ice Cream
but it’s very fattening)
Multiple Approach Avoidance – One must choose between two or more options, each having desirable and undesirable
qualities. (Ex. Choosing which college to attend)
WORK MOTIVATION
Flow- concept where one is so absorbed in one’s work or an activity that he/she loses sense of time and self (considered mentally healthy- EX.
having so much fun with friends that you can’t believe how fast the time has gone).
THEORIES OF EMOTION
James-Lange Theory (2 diff. people) – physiological response (heart pounds) first which causes emotion (feeling afraid) second.
Cannon-Bard Theory (2 diff. people) - physiological change and emotion happen simultaneously.
Shacter two-factor theory (sometimes called Lazarus or Singer) physiological arousal and cognitive label/mental interpretation (“I’m afraid”)
occur simultaneously to cause the emotion.
STRESS
Stressors- life events causing us to have stress.
SRRS (Social Readjustment Rating Scale) used to measure stress caused by different life changing events. This is measured in LCUs (life
changing units) EX- going to college, girlfriend/boyfriend breaks up with you, parents fighting.
Selye’s General Adaptation Syndrome- reaction to stress-occurs in 3 stages- (Mnemonic ARE)
alarm reaction – sympathetic nervous system is activated
resistance – cope with stress
exhaustion. (Vulnerable to sickness or disease in this stage)
Perceived control – perceived control over the situation lessens stress, perceived lack of control makes an event more stressful
Cognition (Memory, Thinking and Language) 7-9%
MODELS OF MEMORY
Three box/information processing model – information is sensed, then encoded to STM, then encoded to LTM. Information is retrieved from
LTM to the STM (Working memory) Sensory memory
Sensory Memory – a split second holding tank for incoming sensory information
Iconic Memory- split second photograph of a scene. Ex. flashing a series of letters
Echoic memory- split second memory of sounds. Ex. Parents ask you to recall what you just said when they think you
aren’t listening.
Short-term (working) memory-limited to about 7 items.
Chunking- mnemonic device, divide items or numbers into chunks.
Mnemonic device- memory aids.
Long-term memory (LTM) –limitless
Explicit Memories – with conscious recall
a.Episodic memory- specific sequence of events
b.Semantic memory – memory of facts, meanings, words
Implicit Memories – without conscious recall
c.Procedural memory- remembering how to drive stick shift after not driving stick in awhile
Prospective Memory- memory of future events such (remembering to take medications) tends to decrease as we age.
Eidetic (photographic) memory- powerful memory of memory of visual images
Levels of processing Model - the more deeply processed the more likely to recall it later
RETRIEVAL
Recall vs. recognition fill in the blank tests vs. multiple-choice tests
Priming- (Example- retrieval cues- by giving the class the category of the word to be retrieved.)
Primacy effect- tendency to recall the first item of a list.
Recency effect- tendency to recall the last item of a list.
Serial Position effect- recall is affected by the order of items on a list
Tip of the Tongue Phenomenon- trying to remember a person’s name (already in LTM) by listing things about their
appearance/personality or going through the alphabet.
Flashbulb memory- split second memory of an emotionally significant event.
Mood-congruent memory- increases the likelihood of recall when you are in the same mood as memory.
State-dependent memory- increases the likelihood of recall when you are in the same state of consciousness (example: losing keys
while intoxicated… will not remember where they are until intoxicated again).
Mnemonics- memory aids such as acronyms and …
Method of Loci – picturing items or words at certain locations in a familiar place.
Peg word system – one bun, two shoe, three tree. .visualize things on a bun when memorizing a list of words
Smell- sense that is strongest/most associated with memory, olfactory nerves are connected to the hippocampus
Constructive Memory- ability of humans to report false details/recollections of events (not intentionally). Many witnesses recall can be distorted
by adding events that didn’t happen (misinformation effect)
Elizabeth Loftus – showed how leading questions can change people’s memories of events by describing car accident as smashed or
hit.
Source Amnesia- attributing the wrong source to a memory. Ex. Thinking something happened in life but it happened in a movie.
FORGETTING
Ebbinghaus Forgetting Curve – At first we forget a lot of information rapidly but the amount remember levels off over time.
Proactive Interference- trying to recall new information (old interferes)
Retroactive Interference- trying to recall old information (new interferes)
TIP: Focus on what is trying to be recall (retroactive is older)
Retrograde amnesia- unable to recall old information
Anterograde amnesia- unable to encode new information.
MEMORIES AND THE BRAIN
Hippocampus is responsible for storing new memories in the brain.
Long Term Potentiation (LTP) – neurons can strengthen connections between each other through repeated firing. This is associated with the
formation of memories.
Language
Phonemes- smallest unit of sound language. Ex- sounding out C-A-T.
Morpheme- smallest unit of language with meaning (Ex. Pre- is not a word but carries meaning)
Syntax- rules of grammar
ACQUISITION OF LANGUAGE
Babbling Stage- googoogaagaa
Telegraphic Speech (about 2 years old) - (EX. - No book, movie). Like a telegraph they are missing several words to the sentence
but you understand.
Chomsky- born with language acquisition device (nature) children learn some grammar without instruction from parents. A critical
period for developing this exists.
Overgeneralization (aka overregularization)- misapplication of grammar rules. EX “ I holded the ball”. Chomsky said this was proof
that children don’t simply model language
Skinner- language is learned, modeled (nurture) through reinforcement.
Whorf’s Linguistic Relativity Hypothesis- language controls/limits our thinking. (EX. The Department of War was changed to the
Dept. of Defense and the approval rating of this dept. immediately improved.
Thinking
Metacognition – thinking about thinking
Prototype – best example of a category (ex. Rose in the category of flower)
PROBLEM SOLVING
Algorithm- logical step by step rule that guarantees solving a problem (Ex. Searching every aisle in the grocery store )
Heuristic- a rule of thumb strategy used to solve a problem or make a judgement, a mental shortcut. (Ex- anytime you do a search on the
internet.)
Availability Heuristic- judging the likelihood of a situation based similar situations that are available in the immediate memory or
come to mind first (Ex. Fear of flying after seeing a plane crash in the news.)
Representative Heuristic- judging the likelihood of a situation based on stereotypes or prototypes (Ex. Truck drivers who read poetry
or Ivy League professors who like poetry.)
Belief Bias – make illogical conclusions to confirm preexisting beliefs. (EX. I believe blondes are dumb and I hear a blonde make a stupid
statement so I say to myself, “there’s the proof that blondes are dumb”
Belief Perseverance- tendency not to change our preexisting beliefs even in the face of contradicting evidence. (EX. I tell you that research says
blondes are of equal intelligence to brunettes yet you continue to believe blondes are dumber.
IMPEDIMENTS TO PROBLEM SOLVING,
Ethnocentrism- tendency for people to believe that one’s culture is superior to others.
Mental Set (rigidity) – tendency for people to fall into established thought patterns or ways of solving problems. Using methods that
worked in the past. Older people may drive to the library and spend 45 mins. to look up information that could have been googled on
the internet)
Functional Fixedness- inability to see a new use for an object. (EX- butter knife as screwdriver)
Confirmation Bias- tendency for people to seek out information that confirms their beliefs.
False Consensus Effect- tendency for people to overestimate the number of people who share their beliefs and values.
Framing- the way a problem is presented (EX. Meat that is 80% lean vs. 20% fat)
Divergent Thinking- thinking that searches for multiple answers.